


Here We Go Again

by pathstotread



Category: Farscape RPF
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-28 00:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pathstotread/pseuds/pathstotread
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"And, okay, there's that one time when they're arguing about a scene and she nearly breaks a director's chair while trying to chuck it at his head, but it's nothing they aren't able to work out over tea and crumpets the next day." Claudia finds it hard to get work without continually running into that Browder character.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here We Go Again

**Author's Note:**

> For bowlerhatgirl. Happy Yuletide! I love these two, and I hope that comes across.

When Ben is cast in Stargate and Claudia is called to reprise her role as Vala, she'll admit, she has a few qualms. It's not that she doesn't love Ben. She does. More importantly, she loves working with him, and she's not ignorant to the fact that they're great together on screen. Farscape had faced its challenges, but the connection between Ben and Claudia had never been one of them. She just wonders if it's too soon to dip back into that well, but the network looks at the two of them and sees "built-in fanbase" and an uptick in ratings, and there's nothing she can say to compete with that.

On her first day back in Vancouver, Claudia's halfway to set when she realizes she's left her mobile in her trailer. She doubles back at a jog, because makeup will be sending someone to round her up any minute. She's just closing the door to her trailer when an appalling imitation of an Australian accent sounds from behind her.

"Hiya, love."

Claudia smiles, but refuses to turn around. "Look, mister, I'm waiting for my boyfriend, and he's a totally jealous guy, so, um, you might want to leave me alone, 'kay?" she says in her best breathy Valley girl.

"He sounds like a wanker. I think I'll take my chances."

Claudia coquettishly peeks over her shoulder and there's Ben standing one step down from her, already in wardrobe and valiantly holding on to a straight face. "Well, you are way cuter than he is, so, like, what the hell, right?"

Dropping the act and the accent, Ben smiles broadly. "Hey, Claude."

"Hi, Benedic."

Ben gives her a stinkeye that's more amused than disgruntled. "I thought we agreed you weren't going to call me that anymore."

"You agreed. I nodded and pretended to agree whilst coming up with rhyming couplets ending with 'Dic' in my head."

Ben _tsks_ , shaking his head. "And I was so hoping for a dirty limerick."

Claudia cocks her head to the side, as if she's considering the proposal. "'Dic's Limerick.' I'm sure that can be arranged." Leaning down into him with her hands braced on his shoulders, Claudia kisses him, a familiar "hello, how are you" kiss. They'd long ago decided that the concept of keeping their lips to themselves seemed ludicrous, given their history of groping each other on cable television for years on end. Ben grabs her around the waist and twirls her off the trailer steps. Her feet hit the ground and they begin to walk back the way she came, Ben's arm slung comfortably over her shoulders.

"So how's it going so far?" she asks, angling her face to look at him.

"Better now you're here," Ben says, giving her a slight hip check. "Though one does wonder just how small the pool of science fiction actors actually is, huh?"

"Yeah, they're scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit. At least in your case." Claudia grins up at him with artificial sweetness.

Ben smirks back at her. "At least I don't have to pretend to like you in this one. That was such a drag."

And that's how they spend the next few years in Vancouver.

-

After the final Stargate movie wraps, Claudia finds herself without much desire to chase after the next big role, much to the chagrin of her agent. She spends some time focusing on family and home and all the aspects of her life that have nothing to do with casting calls, and though she takes some guest starring work here and there and eventually transitions into the surprisingly enjoyable world of voice acting, there's nothing that compares to the all-encompassing intensity of a full-time television gig. Why she misses the slog of fourteen hour days, she can't quite say. But when the opportunity of a mid-season drama that has all the makings of a critically-acclaimed media darling drops into her lap, she jumps at the chance.

The role, pitched to her by a twenty-something in jeans and Converse who looks like he'd be more at home in a skate park than a production studio, is described as a cross between Tami Taylor and Sarah Connor. "Post-apocalyptic fiction is so big right now," he says, emphasizing wildly with his hands. "Everybody wants to see strong, competent women kicking zombie or alien or robot ass. But we also want that core family vibe that worked so well on Friday Night Lights. Your marriage would be the heart and soul of the show, and since you two have worked together before -"

"Wait," says Claudia, holding up a hand. "When you say 'you two,' who do you mean, exactly?"

"They didn't tell you?" he says. "This is who we're thinking of for your husband. He's got that salt-of-the-earth thing going for him, perfect for what we're looking for."

Claudia looks down at the headshot slid across the table, not entirely surprised to see Ben's face. Though she and Ben talk frequently, they rarely discuss work. She'd had no idea he was even making the rounds of television, but she's starting to think that someone somewhere is having fun at their expense. She sighs.

"Something wrong? I'll admit I haven't seen your previous work, but I'm told you're great together."

"No," she says, chuckling to herself. "You're right. He's perfect."

-

She texts him after she gets out of her meeting, stepping out into the smoggy L.A. heat. _So. Uprising._

After a few moments, her message indicator light blinks. _Oh. You too?_

 _Yup._

 _You get the lead?_

 _Yup._

In her mind's eye, she can almost see the look on Ben's face when he responds. _It's possible we should coordinate these things better._

Claudia rolls her eyes. _Yup._

-

True to form, Uprising becomes a critical success that is watched by almost nobody, but those who do are passionate and make enough of a fuss to keep it going longer than it otherwise would. Though there is the running gag about how Ben and Claudia should just become surgically attached at the hip and get it over with, slipping back into playing a married couple is surprisingly easy.

And, okay, there's that one time when they're arguing about a scene and she nearly breaks a director's chair while trying to chuck it at his head - _"Woman, if you could see past that huge chip on your shoulder -" "Call me 'woman' one more time and I swear to the Almighty that I will end you."_ \- but it's nothing they aren't able to work out over tea and crumpets the next day. Ben's treat, of course. He's not an idiot.

The show lasts for two seasons, which is two years of bickering and flirting their way through conventions, late night talk shows, magazine interviews, and upfronts. Toward the end of the run, Claudia notices Ben becoming more and more subdued. No one else mentions anything; she's not sure anyone else has even noticed.

When the official hammer of cancellation comes down, Claudia gets a text from Ben, asking her to meet him on the beach.

"Feel like a walk?" he asks when they meet up by the pier.

"Sure," Claudia says, using his shoulder for balance as she reaches down with one hand to take off her shoes.

They walk along the beach where the water meets the sand, Ben with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans and Claudia with her shoes dangling from the fingers of her left hand. Ben doesn't offer up much in the way of conversation, and Claudia doesn't press the issue, choosing to enjoy the silence.

"So, this feels familiar," he finally says, squinting into the setting sun.

"Yeah, we've been here a time or two, haven't we?"

"Doesn't get any easier."

Claudia nudges him with her shoulder. "Well, if I have to endure three show cancellations in a decade, I _guess_ there are worse people to share it with."

Ben gives her an indecipherable sideways look. "Ditto," he says, turning to face her. Slowly, deliberately, his hands come up to slide through her hair as he leans in to kiss her.

Claudia has kissed Ben hundreds, thousands of times, both on camera and off, but it's never been anything like this. Her hands come up to his chest, but whether she intends to push him away or draw him closer, she's not quite sure. Instead, she rests them lightly on his shoulders, her eyes shut tight against the fading reddish glow of the sun.

Pulling back, his hand still cupping the back of her neck, Ben says, "Claude, I - everything is about to change, for me."

"Oh," Claudia says, not knowing what else to say.

"I know this makes things complicated."

She laughs weakly. "Just a bit."

"I'm sorry," he says, giving her neck a quick squeeze. "I just - I needed to tell you." And just like that, he drops his hand and brushes past her, making his way across the sand.

At a loss, Claudia says to herself, "well, fuck," and sits down hard on the packed sand, looking out at the ocean.

Five minutes later, she thinks, _oh, who am I kidding?_ She sends him a text, squeezing her eyes shut and exhaling sharply as she presses send.

 _Whatever happens next, I'm in._

-

Looking back, Claudia will never pretend that the subsequent months, even years, are easy ones. It's a hellish ordeal, and though the end result is better than she'd ever dreamed, she does have her regrets, ones that she'll never be able to fully shake.

On the bright side, as Ben jokes, now they can avoid each other professionally as much as they like. And they do, for a time, more to keep the gossip to a minimum than anything. But once the dust has settled and they're back to reading scripts, both of their agents contact them about a new miniseries, a dark ensemble comedy that's part Law and Order, part The Office. They talk about one or both of them sitting this one out, but ultimately decide that their respective roles - a prosecutor and an HR rep - are different enough from anything they've done together that it might be all right.

"As long as Ben and I aren't together on the show," Claudia stresses to her agent, who assures her that it's not even a possibility.

Shooting starts, and to their relief, they find that their characters treat each other with an inordinate amount of vitriol. For several weeks they enjoy getting to come to work and snipe at each other on camera, finding it oddly therapeutic.

That lasts approximately two weeks into the fall season. "So," says the head writer, stopping Claudia on her way to craft services. "We were thinking - Jake and Ellie."

Claudia stops in her tracks. "No."

"Why don't you come on in to the writers' room. We can talk about it."

Stomping the rest of the way to craft services, Claudia spots Ben with a loaded plate. "Browder," she calls across the room.

He glances up, immediately interpreting the look on her face. "No," he says, setting his plate down with more force than is probably necessary.

"Yes."

"Not again."

"Looks like it."

"Aw, hell."

 _end_


End file.
